One of my favorite assignments from this semester included participating in a Twitter Chat. I was able to engage with other prospective and current educators and became more familiar with how Twitter chats work. I posted about my experience in a forum and received positive feedback from my instructor. Here is what I had to say:
“After visiting the chat site, I determined that the hashtag did not seem to have been used recently, and the activity made me believe that a chat might not happen at 9pm. However, I looked into another chat that started at the same time, #forsythpln, and I decided to join that chat instead!
I had a positive experience with the chat group, and even found myself laughing at and feeling connected to a few other participants. The #forsythpln chat posed questions regarding SEL classrooms, which I had never heard of before. Over the course of the hour, I learned that SEL environments are thought of very differently in terms of their purposes and functions. The conversation started out with how the participants viewed different aspects of SEL and what that view translated into as a movie, song, or book. As I compared my thoughts to others, I was able to recognize how broadly one topic can be applied. One girl in particular that I connected with had similar taste in how the questions prompted could be applied to modern music and motion pictures, and we would often go back and forth commenting on each other’s choices because of the similarities and differences.
The hour passed by so quickly once the ball was rolling, and though I had not given much thought to the topic previously, I was able to gain insight into SEL classrooms. I followed new people and also gained new followers, and I found a network of people with similar interests as myself. The Twitter chat is something that I hope to continue participating in. Next time, I hope to engage even more with other participants by adding more comments on their answers to the proposed questions! Lastly, because of the positive feedback I received from other participants in the chat, I feel more confident in posting on my professional social media account and in expanding my professional learning.”
Another assignment I felt was of particular value was discussing what potential classrooms of the future will look like and how they might function differently from classrooms in existence today. I put together a slide show explaining my vision for future classrooms and added questions for an audience to ponder on. Click on the slide or link to read through my slides and answer my questions.
